“The achievement gap is visible because
of these awful tests,” says a young
thoughtful black teacher.
One email reads, “Opting-out of high-stakes
testing is an act of civil disobedience.”
Another email points to the raging incoherence
of a struggle for human dignity
played across the currents of issues
that are and are not divisive and urgent
One union says this
One policy center that
A group with trust in its name shouts
Others respond
And I have my own doubts
Listening
to multiple claims on movements and
civil rights
from voices left, right, black,
white, and brown
Both good books and
surely this is a test
But not the kind that’s easy to scan
Or to assign a letter grade to
Or even to write an important book about
It is a test of courage and creativity
A test of our capacities
To search for ways to move with the
currents of human struggle and find
shared and steady hands
Boundaries, both real and false,
Are due to be crossed by those seeking
Some shared claim on what it means
to be human and educated
at this time on the clock of the world.
